Question: How can i remember things better?

Claire Lee answered on 20 Jun 2013:

Practise! Repetition is one of the best ways to get something stored in your brain for a long period of time.

You have two different types of memory – short term memory, and long term memory. Short term memory is like RAM, long term memory is like a hard drive (to use a computer analogy).

Short term memory is where you store stuff you see for the first time. The problem with short term memory is that it can only hold about 5 pieces of information at once. If a 6th piece is added, then it basically overwrites the first.

Long term memory is unlimited in its storage space. But you have to make some effort to store things in long-term memory, they don’t go there automatically. But once they are in, then you’ll pretty much remember it for life.

The trick to remembering things (and this works with learning, well, anything) is to transfer information from short term memory into long term memory, before it gets overwritten with new stuff.

There are a number of ways to do this, and some ways will work better for you depending on the type of person you are. The best way to do it though is to do all four of these things (in whatever order you like best):

* Review the information – go back over what you want to remember, and see how it fits into the overall picture of things
* Do it! Just jump in and try doing/saying/practising what it is you want to learn.
* Get practical – figure out how this particular thing is useful, or what benefits you will get from it. How does it apply to the real world?
* Think about the relationships between the things you are trying to learn. How do they fit together? Is there a structure, or an order to them? And can you link this particular thing to a different thing you’ve learned? How?

If you do those 4 things your brain will automatically start moving that information into your long term memory. And the more times you do them, the more information will be saved.

Also, it might seem difficult and weird at first to do this. But this is another thing that gets easier and quicker with practise. Try it out a couple of times and see how it goes. But remember to do it before you lose the info from your short term memory!

….

Ok, still a bit confused? Here’s an example. Pretend you have to remember the following address: P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. So:
* Review – go over the address. Think – Sydney, Australia. Picture the Opera house, picture the kangaroos and wallabies.
* Do it – just say “The address is, P Sherman…. etc ” a couple of times.
* Get practical – how is this useful? Do you need to go there?
* Think relationships and links: . Have you heard this address before? What about the number 42, can you link that to anything?

Ok. Now turn away from your computer and see if you can say the address. See?

And tomorrow, when you wake up, see if you can remember it again 🙂